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Accreditation Review Team

April 28, 2006: Many of you are aware that CCRI is anticipating an accreditation
team visit from the New England Association of Schools and Colleges this
September. As part of CCRI’s ongoing NEASC accreditation process, the visiting
team will evaluate the college’s progress in the following areas:

Mission

General Education

Governance

Long-Range Planning

Faculty Evaluation.

I cannot overstate the value of NEASC accreditation. Internally, NEASC
accreditation serves as a barometer of our effectiveness as an institution
of higher learning. Externally, NEASC accreditation puts CCRI in context,
reassuring prospective students, business partners and future faculty that
our college meets or exceeds the standards for community colleges across
the nation. And, NEASC accreditation gives CCRI the credibility it needs
to continue to educate the state’s adult population, to create meaningful
partnerships with business and industry, and to raise funds from a variety
of local and national sources.

Recently, I held the first meeting of what I call the Accreditation Review
Team, a collaboration among the leadership of the CCRI Governance, Long-Range
Planning, General Education, Mission and Faculty Evaluation Committees.
My hope—that creating collaboration among key committees would not only
inform but energize its participants—was quickly realized. I am very encouraged
and pleased by the enthusiasm and can-do attitude of the group as a whole.
I am also encouraged by the productivity-to-date of the individual committees.
Our job now is simply to refine and finalize the hard work their members
have already undertaken.

First on the list of priorities is the completion and approval of a college-wide
Mission, Visions and Values statement. To aid in this task, two new members
of the Mission Committee have been appointed, including Dusty Haller of
the Library and Barbara Legg of the English Department.
We plan to distribute a draft mission statement to the entire CCRI community
for input in the near future.

There have been some changes to the structure of other committees as
well. Professor Jaclynne Laxon of the Biology Department has been added
to the Governance Committee, whose chairmanship is presently shared between
Associate Dean Christine Jenkins and Property Control and Supply Officer
Louis Rainone. Professors Ray Kilduff and Jack Owens have joined Phil Sisson
to co-chair the General Education Committee. The Faculty Evaluation Committee
is awaiting a vote by the Faculty Union later this month to decide what
faculty members will serve on this contractual committee.

It is our hope that, by the end of the summer, the Faculty Evaluation,
General Education, Governance and Long-Range Planning Committees will be
able to demonstrate considerable progress toward their goals. Many of these
committees have websites so that the CCRI community may monitor their progress.
I encourage you not only to visit these sites, but also to offer your input
to the committee members, who are listed below. To read more about our NEASC
self-study, please visit /neasc.

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